WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time ◈
Episode 363: Perfect Completeness (4)
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* * *
The Divine Hand Radiant King resembled Languid Flame Dragon.
Not only in appearance, but in temperament as well. The moment he heard Jeong Yeon-shin’s harsh words, he waved them away.
He was still crouched carelessly on a high branch.
“I came because I thought the Lord of the Immortal Wood Spirit was being toyed with by Peng Yeo-ran, but it was the other way around. That’s a relief. Things worked out well.”
“...?”
“Someone who knows nothing shouldn’t use things as they please. Especially something as troublesome as a World Tree sapling.”
It could shake the foundation of this formation, he concluded, looking somewhat weary.
His words and manner carried both youth and age.
His face, which resembled Languid Flame Dragon’s, gave the same impression.
Though his skin was smooth enough to attest to his immense martial arts, his expression was closer to that of an old man in a back room who found everything bothersome.
Jeong Yeon-shin did not like the sight. His opium-smoking grandson would never get to enjoy such an age.
He glanced at Peng Yeo-ran’s head lying at his feet.
The gazes of the One King and Two Lords surrounding him followed his eyes.
Peng Yeo-ran’s face was pressed to the dirt, stripped of all elegance. The corpses of the Biyok Peng Family’s old masters were scattered across the broad mountain path, beginning to give off a foul stench. The earth was turning a dull, dark red...
“I asked whether you had harmed any martial artists from the main fortress.”
Jeong Yeon-shin spoke.
Huangbo Gon smiled faintly, as if troubled. Even the way his lips curled resembled Languid Flame Dragon.
“That’s difficult to answer. It’s not as though I’ve only turned one or two heads to mush.”
“Come down.”
“No, calm yourself. The sword of a peerless swordsman like you ought to remain heavy.”
Huangbo Gon lightly leaped down from the branch.
Tap.
His yellow sleeves flared magnificently before settling.
The hems of his clothes, imbued with inner energy, aided his movements. He seemed to be activating the Huangbo Family’s Elegant Verse Heavenly King Scripture, and it possessed a depth Jeong Yeon-shin had never felt from Languid Flame Dragon.
Despite his frivolous manner, he had not neglected his guard against Jeong Yeon-shin. He was an experienced elder of the previous generation.
“Hmm... How can a human body be like this...?”
The former Huangbo Family Head standing before Jeong Yeon-shin stroked his chin.
His gaze swept over Jeong Yeon-shin, sharp as a blade. It did not suit his drooping eyes, which seemed to find everything tiresome.
“...Now that I think of it, the Lord of the Immortal Wood Spirit hasn’t used a killing move since entering this land. There’s a fair amount of order here. Does that answer your question? More importantly...”
He showed little interest in Jeong Yeon-shin’s question. Huangbo Gon was interested only in the body of the Leader of Demon Wings, shaped through Marrow Cleansing and Bone Reforging.
“It’s even more astonishing up close.”
“What?”
“I underwent a transformation in my youth as well, but your body seems plainly designed to make it easy to contain a particular martial lineage. I don’t know how such a thing is possible, but...”
Jeong Yeon-shin did not answer. He raised his head.
He saw two powerful figures.
An old man in ragged clothes reclined against a rock on a distant ridge, watching them. An elderly Taoist in a jade-colored robe floated in midair, silently looking down at Jeong Yeon-shin.
Ghost Lord Man Hugye and Dark Lord Immortal Master Void Emptiness.
Their auras were intense.
They were elders whose power ranked among the five strongest in the formation, maintaining the order of the Two Kings and Three Lords.
They were strong enough to harm the Desolate Fortress forces, including the missing Swift Heaven Wing Squad, whenever they wished.
He needed answers from those two as well. The moment words left their lips, his upper dantian would tell him the truth.
Yet Jeong Yeon-shin said nothing more. He merely tipped his head upward, demanding an answer.
He had already seen the elders within the formation exploiting the common people.
With the death of Swift Heaven Wing Squad Leader Ha Do-un nearly certain, he had no desire to respect the ages of these old monsters.
“...Conduct befitting domineering martial arts.”
The Divine Hand Radiant King Huangbo Gon muttered, but the Leader of Demon Wings paid no heed.
“...”
Within the transparent flower bud of Ultimate Thunder, Jeong Yeon-shin silently watched the two old masters.
Shaaah...
Pressure spread naturally from him without any deliberate intent. The sight of the air rippling in every direction was terrifying.
He carried the resolve of someone who did not mind fighting again.
The Light Wheel around his heart, which had briefly thinned, did not concern him.
Even though he had spent an enormous amount of inner power annihilating the Biyok Peng Family’s masters, including the Guimyeong Overlord and the Wind Lord, that emptiness could do nothing to soothe the feelings stirred by news of his senior’s death.
Heat had risen to his head. He simply did not show it.
‘Just let one of you give me a reason.’
It was then.
The old man lying on the rock across the distant hill, Ghost Lord Man Hugye, suddenly smiled.
He radiated the ease of someone seasoned by age.
Perhaps because it was a distance that would take someone unfamiliar with martial arts a full two hours to cross on foot.
“They say each new wave in the Yangtze pushes the last onward. To think a young wave from the martial world would press this beggar so hard.”
“...”
“Now, young man. Who could easily speak with the head of the Guimyeong Overlord at their feet and those fearsome eyes glaring at them? The sort from Desolate Fortress, always acting like this whenever they see a martial artist...”
In an instant, the sword in Jeong Yeon-shin’s hand vanished with a brutal roar through the air.
A gust of wind, unraveled like a rough bundle of thread, swept up the hems of his trousers. Then qi sword control pierced the air in a straight line and embedded the sword in the rock where Ghost Lord Man Hugye had lain, unleashing a circular shockwave.
Kwoooooong!
Rock fragments shattered in the explosion.
Heavy-looking chunks rolled down the far slope. Dull crashing sounds continued for a brief moment.
“...”
Several breaths passed in clamorous silence.
Behind Jeong Yeon-shin, the blue eyes of Cheon So-so, Lord of the Immortal Wood Spirit, widened slightly. Xiahou Wi-jin, leader of the Heaven-Treading Forest Squad, ruffled the back of his own head, where Ma Yeon-jeok had once seized and pinned him.
Then.
“Hah. Young ones who grow strong are always like this.”
Ghost Lord Man Hugye landed before Jeong Yeon-shin, emerging through the thin cloud of dust.
His elusive movements suited the title Ghost Lord perfectly. The nimble aura unique to the Beggars’ Sect’s Body Movement Scripture spread from the rags draped around the old man.
Man Hugye wore a dark expression.
Had he felt deeply insulted? His sunken eyes already gave him a gloomy impression, but the look he fixed on Jeong Yeon-shin was chilling.
Man Hugye spoke.
“Is that how Desolate Fortress teaches negotiation?”
“I heard the Beggars’ Sect teaches begging before martial arts.”
“What?”
“An old man who has yet to learn how an inferior should comport himself.”
Jeong Yeon-shin replied calmly. Man Hugye’s wrinkled brow immediately furrowed.
“I can see that your inner power is exhausted from destroying the Guimyeong Peng Family. What can you gain by provoking us? The Lord of the Immortal Wood Spirit and the Heaven-Treading Forest Squad Leader do not appear to be in good condition either. At best, you would perish together...”
Flap!
The old beggar abruptly spun around and thrust out his palm.
At the same time, a beam of light streaked in from afar, drawing a white line through the air. It tore through Man Hugye’s shoulder and slammed into the scabbard at Jeong Yeon-shin’s waist.
The sword was being sheathed. The divine sword forged by the Tang siblings fit reasonably well into the Meteor Sword’s scabbard.
With his Light Wheel weakened, it lacked the speed and power it had when it pierced the Guimyeong Overlord’s body.
Still, it served well enough as a threat. At a glance, Man Hugye might think that this junior, so well versed in etiquette, had shown restraint.
In any case, Ghost Lord Man Hugye had suddenly displayed a strange reaction. Yet the old beggar merely reddened in the face and said nothing else.
He had no choice if he wished to preserve his dignity.
Jeong Yeon-shin had already withdrawn the colorless lotus of Ultimate Thunder when he quietly spoke.
“Answer the question.”
“...Within this formation, I have never privately exchanged blows with anyone from Desolate Fortress.”
Man Hugye spoke.
Jeong Yeon-shin stood still and ran his fingers along the divine sword’s hilt.
His upper dantian, heated to its limit by Dragon Fan Treading Flowers, Ultimate Thunder, and Dragon Fan Treading Flowers again, did not detect a lie.
Xiahou Wi-jin and Cheon So-so, both powerful members of the elven race skilled at discerning the truth, appeared to feel the same.
He raised his head.
His gaze met that of Dark Lord Immortal Master Void Emptiness, drifting through the air.
The old Taoist looked at Jeong Yeon-shin with eyes so deep that the word profound came to mind, then silently shook his head. Likewise, there was no sign of deceit.
That was enough.
Jeong Yeon-shin had no interest in the private histories of the Ghost Lord, Dark Lord, and Divine Hand Radiant King. It was enough to gather his comrades from the main fortress and return safely.
“Seniors, please bring your subordinates. We should leave now.”
Watching the three old masters warily, he continued without turning around.
“Are the martial artists of the Immortal Wood Spirit Squad and the Heaven-Treading Forest Squad unharmed?”
“The Immortal Wood Spirit Squad is safe. Peng Yeo-ran... regularly let me confirm that the children captured by the Biyok Peng Family were unharmed.”
Behind him, Cheon So-so seemed to nod slightly as she looked at Peng Yeo-ran’s head on the ground.
There must have been many twists and turns before they seized the World Tree sapling. As he heard Xiahou Wi-jin’s gruff answer, Jeong Yeon-shin was newly reminded of the weight of the missions carried out by his fellow Black Uniforms.
“The Heaven-Treading Forest Squad will gather when called.”
“Let’s return.”
Jeong Yeon-shin spoke.
He freely spoke of the course of action of seniors far older than himself, and the Lord of the Immortal Wood Spirit and the Heaven-Treading Forest Squad Leader nodded without hesitation.
A glint of surprise crossed the Divine Hand Radiant King Huangbo Gon’s eyes.
“There’s one thing I wish to ask.”
“...?”
“The World Tree sapling that should be in the Lord of the Immortal Wood Spirit’s arms. What do you intend to do with it?”
“Once we are outside, I intend to ask the Lord of Desolate Fortress how it should be handled.”
Jeong Yeon-shin answered.
The change from casual to respectful speech came naturally.
The current Leader of Demon Wings was not ignorant of propriety, and this man was his comrade’s grandfather.
“Why have you changed the way you speak? You’re better suited to speaking down to me. A Black Uniform of Desolate Fortress isn’t in a rank that needs to worry about seniority.”
“One of my subordinates is your grandson.”
“Hmm? I can’t believe it. A martial artist from Desolate Fortress came from among the worthless spawn of my family...?”
Huangbo Gon snorted and stroked his chin. He did not seem especially interested, but his eyes showed deeper fondness.
“In any case, this is troublesome. The flood dragon vanished long ago, and this formation will soon disappear as well...”
“That is none of my concern. I only intend to take the common people and leave.”
“You have a way out?”
“Yes.”
“The World Tree sapling can only sever space. Unless it’s someone like the Lord of Desolate Fortress, it would be difficult for the Lord of the Immortal Wood Spirit to draw another use from it...”
He edged closer, seemingly intending to accompany them to the village where Xiahou Wi-jin had lived as its chief.
“There is a way.”
“Did a peerless master of sorcery arts come with you? Now that I think of it, this is truly strange. Didn’t you say you entered because the Golden-Wing Sect Master opened a gap in the formation? Then what is that monster doing, that they haven’t shown themselves even now?”
He talked too much.
He was the complete opposite of the Ghost Lord and Dark Lord, who had already turned and vanished without a trace.
His disposition resembled that of the opium-smoking brat back at distant Desolate Fortress. Jeong Yeon-shin thought that, unlike himself, their bloodline must run deep.
Step.
The quiet sound of feet treading dirt rang out. A gust cooled the ground, sticky and hot with blood, then rose into the air.
“Since I fear it may be deceit not to tell you...”
“Hmm?”
“Your family has fallen, sir.”
“This Leader of Demon Wings is an exceptional talent. You are very considerate for someone so young.”
“Yes.”
“Well, the rise and fall of great families turns like a spinning wheel. Having reached the threshold of immortal ascension, I have no particular attachment to it anyway.”
“For the crime of privately forcing commoners into labor.”
“...?”
“They were punished for treason. The main fortress wiped them out.”
“Hmm...?”
“Your only remaining bloodline is my subordinate.”
“...”
The Leader of Demon Wings, the Heaven-Treading Forest Squad Leader, the Lord of the Immortal Wood Spirit, and the Divine Hand Radiant King descended the mountain.
The gazes of onlookers, repeatedly stunned by the earthshaking battle, trailed behind them like footprints.
Footnotes:
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